Carol Burnett Has 'Full Circle' Moment at Handprint Ceremony in Same Theater She Stole Toilet Paper from as a Kid

Carol Burnett is returning to her roots.

On Thursday, June 20, Burnett got her hand and footprints cemented at the famous TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood — and it felt like a blast from the past, she tells PEOPLE. The actress, 91, says she grew up right down the street, and frequented the area often with her grandmother as a child.

“When I was a little girl, I was raised here, just on Yucca and Wilcox, Hollywood Boulevard was my street,” she recalls. “I remember, I was 10 or 11 years old, and I would put my handprints on Betty Grable's hands, and now they have mine 80 years later. Who knew?”

The Annie alum says being there for her own ceremony felt surreal, and she couldn’t help but feel like she was a kid again.

“When I put my hands down there today, I went back to Betty Grable, when I did it with them,” she explains. “All of a sudden I was a little girl again, putting my hands on Betty Grable's prints.”

She later tells PEOPLE “this is my roots,” noting that after living in the heart of Hollywood for 21 years, it is “quite a trip” to be in the position she admired so much.

“This [handprint] and then the Star on Hollywood Boulevard is in front of a theater where I worked as an usher,” she reveals. “So I’ve come full circle.”

In her speech, Burnett let out a little secret she had about the TCL theater — one she and her grandmother kept between them. She revealed that after they would splurge to see a Betty Grable movie, they'd get their money's worth from the experience.

"Before we'd leave, my grandmother said, 'Well, let's hit the ladies' room,'" she said before revealing: "So we would go in there and steal all the toilet paper. And she said, 'Well, we'll be set for another month.'"

Burnett was supported by her costars Laura Dern (Palm Royale) and Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) at the event, along with Dick Van Dyke, who appeared on The Carol Burnett show, which ran from 1967 to 1978. Jimmy Kimmel also spoke in her honor.

Kimmel later posted a sweet message for the Hollywood legend on his social media.

"Thank you Carol Burnett for giving me the honor of honoring you at your exceptionally well-deserved and long overdue handprint & footprint ceremony this morning in Hollywood,” it read.

The star-studded ceremony also saw guests such as stars Allison Janney, Bill Hader (who discovered he's cousins with Burnett), Jane Lynch, Lisa Ann Walter and Maya Rudolph.

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Burnett’s success is no secret; She has six Emmys, six Golden Globes, one Grammy and a Kennedy Center honor. In April 2023, as she turned 90 years old, Burnett spoke about her incredible career.

"I was pretty much of a quiet student all through grammar school, junior high and Hollywood High," Burnett told PEOPLE of how she discovered she was a comic. "I would kid around with my friends, the neighborhood kids, stuff like that. But I never really thought about it until I got to UCLA and I was in an acting class. A lot of the kids at the class were doing heavy, dramatic stuff and I thought, I can't do that. So I picked something light and they laughed. That's when the bug bit."